In the employment of non-biodegradable packaging materials, such as aluminum, it has been recognized that a serious problem arises in disposing of the package after use. With respect to aluminum cans, for example, it is ecologically desirable that they be recycled and re-used. From a storage and transportation standpoint, it is more economical to decrease the volume of the used and empty cans, than it is to transport and store them in their original shape. A machine for rapidly, reliably and cheaply reducing these cans, or other similar materials, to a density of 9 to 10 pounds per cubic foot or more, which can be located wherever used cans are collected for transporation to recycling and recovery systems, is highly desirable.
Available hydraulic crushing mechanisms are cumbersome and expensive. Prior art rolling and pressing mechanisms normally require that an object be forced into them to crush it. Ribbed rollers of the so-called self-feeding type do not normally require that the object be forced between them, but often become blocked if the object is not properly aligned. Either system often results in a slow feed operation and substantially low system efficiency.
It is therefore highly desirable to have a machine that is relatively inexpensive, reliable, efficient and simple to operate which will rapidly collapse and compact materials such as cans to a density of between nine to ten pounds per cubic foot.